Sparta, IL – A priest who was ordained in Belleville almost fifty years ago has been removed from his job in Sparta, Illinois, pending an investigation into 32-year old sexual abuse allegations.

72-year old William Rensing was placed on administrative leave. A diocese spokesman says the allegations involve a young boy in an incident in Fairview Heights in 1970. Bishop Wilton Gregory says Rensing is cooperating with the investigation.

St. Louis, MO – Bishop Wilton Gregory returned to the Metro-East yesterday after a week of meetings at the Vatican. The President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops heads the Belleville diocese, and told reporters yesterday the Vatican has not rejected the sexual abuse policy developed this summer by U.S. bishops.

But Gregory but he says there are aspects to work out, including the Vatican's trouble with parts of the plan to permanently remove from the ministry all known abusers.

The first of two debates between Missouri's major party U.S. Senate candidates took place last night in St. Louis.

Democratic incumbent Jean Carnahan and Republican challenger Jim Talent squared off in St. Louis' public television studios to talk about issues including homeland security, social security and prescription drug benefits for seniors.

Sacremento, CA – A St. Louis native has resigned as California's first official poet laureate.

Quincy Troupe resigned after acknowledging he had lied on his resume about graduating from college.

Troupe had held the term for just four months when a committee in California's State Senate discovered the discrepancy while preparing for his confirmation hearing. He says he attended Grambling College but in fact never graduated.

St. Louis, MO – The St. Louis Board of Aldermen Friday passed two bills that city officials say will lay the groundwork for a new Cardinals stadium. The board approved a ticket tax reduction measure and a redevelopment plan that designates more than 40-acres around the current stadium for new commercial properties. The amusement tax on tickets would be eliminated if at least $200-million is spent on the deal. First ward alderwoman Irene Smith voted against both measures. She says they don't adequately protect city revenues.

St. Louis, MO – American Airlines' decision this week to ground 42 planes has former TWA pilots worried.

Captain Jeffery Darnall, with the group TWA Pilots, Inc., says because American put a majority of TWA pilots and flight attendants at the bottom of the seniority list, they will be first in line to lose jobs.

Jefferson City, MO – The Missouri Ethics Commission cleared Republican US Senate candidate Jim Talent of some ethics charges. But it's still looking into a case that Talent may have violated ethics laws in his 2000 governor's race.

The pending complaint says he may have violated the law by setting up a debt retirment committee in 2000, when his campaign finance report showed no debt.

Talent's campaign calls it a technical problem that can be fixed by filing an amended report.

Springfield, MO – President Bush focused on the economy as he campaigned for Republican Jim Talent in Springfield, Missouri, today.Bush acknowledged the economy is just "bumping along," but he says it will get stronger - if his tax cuts are made permanent. Also, he says a Republican-controlled Senate would pave the way for other tax reforms, like doing away with the death tax on farms and small businesses.

St. Louis, MO – St. Louis police say a fatal shooting on I-55 yesterday was in retaliation for a murder last month.

Chief Joe Mokwa says police are looking for suspects in the death of 25-year old Antonine Brown, who had been questioned about a murder last month in St. Louis but never arrested.

Brown's family says he lived in motels the past month, avoiding attempts on his life, and that he was living on borrowed time. Three other drivers were slightly injured yesterday during the shooting when ricocheting bullets hit their cars.

Washington, DC – Boeing's St. Louis-based Super Hornet project will have fewer planes to make this year, but not a few as first thought.

President Bush's budget proposal to Congress in February lowered the number of the Navy planes made this year from 48 to 44. Congress yesterday passed a defense spending plan that calls for 46 of the attack jets.

More than 4,000 people in the St. Louis area work on the Super Hornet project, which is Missouri's largest defense contract at $3 billion dollars.

St. Louis, MO – City officials are working on a plan to reinvest in St. Louis' main arts and entertainment district. If approved by the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, an $80-million tax increment financing plan would be used to redevelop several properties in the Grand Center area, including art museums, educational facilities and residential units. Grand Center executive director and former mayor Vince Schoemehl says his group hopes to build an economic engine for the city of St. Louis.

St. Louis, MO – Four people have died, including an 88 year-old suburban St. Louis man whose death was reported last week. The new cases are a 76-year-old Kansas City man, a 64-year-old man and 42-year-old woman from St. Louis County, and a 38-year-old woman from Moniteau County. West Nile is spread mostly through mosquito bites. The Centers for Disease Control says the virus has infected more than 3,000 in 37 states and Washington, D.C., and killed 164 people.

Jefferson City, MO – The law was revised last year. It allows retired workers to stay on part-time for up to one-thousand hours a year. Those who exceedthe limit could have their retirement benefits suspended. The goal is to open senior-level jobs to younger workers, whileusing the experience of retirees. The Commission on Total Compensation said today it wants tobetter define the law. Some members see a need to look at potential problems within the retirement system.

Clayton, MO – Hailing a cab at Lambert Airport may soon cost you a minimum of ten dollars. A St. Louis County Council committee is recommending setting the flat rate for all rides up to four miles, no matter how long or short the trip.

The fare after that distance would stay the same: $0.20 for each one-tenth of a mile. If the full County Council approves the change next week, the new fare would take effect next month. Drivers have complained short trips provide insufficient income.

St. Louis, MO – The Missouri Department of Natural Resources confirms that the Doe Run Company's lead smelter in Herculaneum did achieve the national air quality standard during the third quarter of 2002.

DNR has been monitoring the air in Herculaneum since the early 1980s, but environmental engineer John Rustige says this is only the second time Doe Run has achieved attainment levels for a full three-month period.

San Francisco, CA – The Cardinals season ended last night when the Giants' leadoff hitter Kenny Lofton hit a pennant-winning single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to hand the Giants a 2-1 victory over St. Louis.

The Giants are heading to the World Series for the first time in 13 years. They collected just four hits and were one out away from extra innings until David Bell and Shawon Dunston singled off Cardinals starter Matt Morris. Cards manager Tony La Russa replaced Morris with Steve Kline, who gave up Lofton's single.

St. Louis, MO – O'Neill says in spite of recent cases of corporate corruption, a series of dot-com failures and the September 11 attacks, there's a lot of good news in the economy. He predicts the nation's economic growth rate will continue to improve. Despite O'Neill's assessment of the economy, House Minority leader Richard Gephardt of St. Louis is blasting the Bush Administration's handling of the economy, citing 1.6 million jobs lost in the last two years. (Bill Raack, KWMU)

Springfield, IL – The Illinois Prisoner Review Board starts a nine-day review of more than 140 Death Row cases today. The Board will suggest whether inmates' sentences should be switched to life in prison.

Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine says most of the cases under review should not be overturned and that to do so would insult the families of the victims. He cited the case of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, whose interigation was not videotaped, meaning he would have been taken off death row if he was still alive.